Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Rainbow planting

It really feels like spring is here today. The sun forced me to remove my cardy on the train for the first time in months, and that was a very exciting experience. Also of great excitement is the fact that I have a few rows of tomato seedlings bursting out into the world. No longer does my future hold only lettuce and leeks! It must have been the warmer weather sneaking into my kitchen that’s done the job. Now all I need is my chilli seedlings to poke out their heads and say hello, and my early crops will be on their way.

This year I decided to plant proper tomatoes, instead of small hanging basket varieties and cherry toms. I’ve even snuck in an old yellow variety. I find that I can’t stop myself growing odd things. There seems to be much more pleasure in growing unusual coloured and shaped species, and the fact that I never see these vegetables in supermarkets makes it even more exciting. The yellow toms certainly seem sturdy little seedlings, so I can’t wait to see the fully grown plants. And soon I'll be growing my purple-podded peas as well, but I’ll wait a short while before sowing those.

I’m going to keep my eyes out for other unusual coloured crops. Who knows, maybe I can have the first rainbow coloured vegetable plot?!

3 comments:

I know what you mean about different coloured veg - I've got a bit of a thing about purple (although I don't like red cabbage or aubergines), so I've got broccoli, beans, basil, lettuce and corrots that grow that colour. My friends despair of me!

purple basil! that's the way forward. I shall seek some out. I did have a fascination for black/deep purple pansies a few years ago, and they grew back every year until I had to leave them and move house. They were beautiful, so I thoroughly understand your choice of colour